I am neither an architect nor a contractor, so forgive me if I misunderstand any of the passive house details—but please also correct me!

I spent this morning at MIT, for the dasHAUS exhibit’s Cambridge Day events. Presented by the German American Chamber of Commerce, dasHAUS is a traveling tour demonstrating technologies used in passive house design, which Germany is known worldwide for. If you’re not familiar with the passive house standard (which I really wasn’t before this), at heart it’s a super-tight building envelope that requires up to 95% less energy to heat than a normal design (38.1 kBtu/sf/yr, to be precise, compared to the national average of 65). In order to do this, it uses innovative insulation, an energy-recovery ventilation system, and windows with as little heat loss as possible.

I could totally live in a 763 sq ft house.

The dasHAUS pavilion is not a full house, but a single airtight room with examples of different kinds of insulation, windows, and solar panels that can be used in passive house design. It’s based on Germany’s winning entries in the 2007 and 2009 Solar Decathlon, a college competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Possible components of the passive house design include:

• Exterior Insulating Finishing System (EIFS) – This is a continuous insulating system of rigid polystyrene, with a layer of thermal insulating plaster over it that looks vaguely pockmarked, increasing the surface area.
• Vacuum-Insulated Panels (VIPS) – These are rigid vacuum cores enclosed by reflective foil, with an amazing R value of 30, and just an inch wide. (Compare to rigid polystyrene’s R value of 5 and fiberglass’s 3.5.) The only drawback: if it’s punctured, the vacuum is destroyed, and it’s no longer super insulating.

Three different insulation composites

• Heat-recovery ventilation (HRV) – This acts as both climate control and mechanical ventilation. Ducts with colder outside air and warmer inside air pass by each other over an aluminum membrane, bringing the outside air up to temperature. This keeps the house a constant temperature (stabilizing at 59 degrees F in northern European winters) and prevents moisture and mold issues. A heating coil can be added to this to further warm the incoming air.
• Triple-paned argon-filled windows with low-e coating – The argon 90 is a better insulator than regular air, and the two cavities double its insulation. The low-emissivity (metal!) coating reflects infrared light (or, as we know it, heat).

There were lots of other energy-saving details, including thin solar panels on the louvered blinds—too many to go into here. But be sure to read through the self-guided tour for more info. And I’ll be back later this week with more posts about the presentations at the legislative breakfast and green residential building panels.

My friend Sharon is borrowing Jason’s bike this week, and in order to figure out the best route to take to work, I recommended Google maps. Their bike directions find you the nearest bike paths or bike lanes and give you the best ways around tough intersections. And they’re still in beta, so if you find a problem with the maps for your area, you can suggest improvements. (Isn’t crowd-sourcing wonderful?)

.

When I first started riding to work, Google maps suggested a hidden route across the train tracks that I’d never seen before, which cuts at least a few blocks off my trip—and is a much calmer ride. I hope Sharon has as good an experience with it.

I’m a vegetarian for ethical reasons, not environmental ones, but I still find the comparison between soy products and meat interesting.

• Steak or Veggie Burger: Which is Greener? – Mother Jones. Overprocessed soy has just as much of a carbon footprint as meat, but pound for pound soybeans blow away any form of animal product. (Thanks, Sharon!)
• Staying Cool with a Metal Roof – Green Building Advisor. Yes, a reflective metal roof is better in warmer climates than dark asphalt shingles, but there’s some question as to how much.
• Ask Umbra: Is it ‘cheating’ to ride an electric bike? – Grist. “Walking, bicycling, and electric bicycling ultimately released the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions,” but an electric bike costs about $1,500, so you won’t be finding me on one anytime soon.
• Revisiting the KHS Green – Lovely Bicycle! My KHS Green has treated me really well for more than two years so far…
• Berkeley Discovers Emission Reductions Require More Than a Plan – Sustainable City Network. Tracking metrics is really important so that a climate action plan doesn’t just become greenwashing.
• How e-waste recycling gives your gadgets a fresh start – Grist. Electronics recycling is too often out of sight, out of mind. Make sure your electronics go to an E-Steward-certified recycler.
• Biodegradable Urn Contains a Tree Seed that Gets Its Nutrients from Your Ashes – Imgur. I love this idea—circle of life and all that. But you’d need a whole lot of them to hold all the ash a human makes. (Thanks, Matt.)

That’s the last of them. If you come across anything else interesting this week, send it along.

Our spring CSA has been overwhelming us with bok choy and radishes, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have very many recipes that include these. Luckily, Bittman has me covered. I found a recipe on his site for Stir-Fried Bok Choy, Daikon, Crisp Tofu that’s delicious. It does take a long time to make (relative to my normal 15-minute meals), but the results are worth it. And it ensures that we—and not our worms—actually get to eat our CSA veggies each week.

Mmmm....

Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Radish with Tofu

1 1/2 lbs bok choy
4 tbsps vegetable oil
1 lb firm tofu, sliced and patted dry (important!)
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger
1/2 lb radish, sliced
1/2 cup water
2 tbsps soy sauce
Black pepper

1. Cut the bok choy leaves into wide ribbons and keep them separate from the stems. Cut the stems into 1-inch pieces.
2. Fry tofu in 2 tbsps of the oil, 3 to 5 minutes each side. Drain on paper towels.
3. Add the other 2 tbsps oil to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook onion, garlic, and ginger, stirring, for just 1 minute. Add the bok choy stems and radish and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just lose their crunch, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the bok choy leaves and about 1⁄2 cup water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the stems and radish are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in tofu and soy sauce, sprinkle with pepper. Serve over rice.

It’s supposed to make four servings, but it tasted so good that we decided it was really two.

I’ve always thought voluntary programs had few teeth, but Dealing with an Angry Public suggests that, coupled with support from the government, they can make a bigger difference than stricter regulations. It sets up a partnership relationship rather than an adversarial one.

• FDA Launches Voluntary Plan To Reduce Use Of Antibiotics In Animals – NPR. This would be a big step towards reducing factory farming, because without overuse of antibiotics, animals can’t be crowded into such horrible conditions and survive.
• Belgrade Lakes man’s basement hobby slithers – Morning Sentinel. I could totally imagine doing this. (Thanks, Judy!)
• What Cuba Can Teach Us About Food and Climate Change – Slate. When I wrote about environmentalism in Cuba, I never even considered the farming techniques.
• 5 Zero-VOC Interior Paints for a Freshly-Renovated, Healthy Home – Treehugger. Sherwin Williams Harmony is what we used. No fumes, even in the middle of winter with the windows closed.
• Growing Potatos in a Garbage Can – Green Lifestyle Consulting. Okay, I’m not doing this yet, but it’s definitely on the list for when the zombie apocalypse happens.
• A Place for Old Chickens, Outside the Pot – New York Times. My family always held on to their chickens no matter what, even when my dad ended up with three roosters.
• How Making Food Safe Can Harm Wildlife And Water – NPR. There’s got to be a way to balance out food safety and biodiversity.
• What’s the Most Eco-Friendly Way to Get Drunk? – Atlantic Monthly. For Jason.

In the interest of preventing this from being 10 pages long, I’m saving some links for next week. But as always, if you come across anything interesting, send it my way.